Christmas Day Hike (23°C) ..

Hoping to make it back before dark

The Golden Hour


Looking forward to more trails in 2018

Christmas Day Hike (23°C) ...

A solo Christmas day hike in my backyard

Silver grass season quickly coming to an end

Did not run into a single person on the trails since it was a work/school day for most

Late afternoon = lovely light

Random December ...

Costco didn't have advent calendars this year but friends found some and surprised me!

Santa came a little early this year after making a stop at Ikea

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Miaoli, Taiwan

Sunday December 10th, 2017 (23°C)

What is that big ball in the sky?! So, so good!

Snuck in a long but extremely muddy hike out back of my community

Hoping to make it home before the rain starts again

Trying to dry out before the afternoon rain

November and December ...

Anja with two of the performers
My first post in December. Oops. It's been raining and raining ... and raining. It started in late October and hasn't really stopped!

This photo was taken at the Oktoberfest event held near Taipei 101. It was a TON of fun! Luckily, we were seated directly in front of the stage. I can't wait to go again next year!

Still inspired by the B&W challenge and looking for indoor activities to pass time —Dakeng, Taichung

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Playing around with B&W in Lightroom ...

Lion's Head Mountain near Hsinchu, Taiwan

The trail leading up to Jade Mountain ... Taiwan's highest peak

The old mining building near Ruifeng District, Taiwan

Hiking around Zhiben National Forest Park in Taitung, Taiwan

Playing around with B&W in Lightroom ...

Along the #102 near Ruifang District in northern Taiwan

Hiking the challenging and quite dangerous Yuanzui Mountain near Taichung, Taiwan

The Sanmin Bat Cave near Fuxing District, Taiwan

Hiking the crags in Pingxi, Taiwan

Saturday October 28th, 2017

Took eight Taipei Hikers to Yilan to hike the Taoyuan Valley Trail (15KM)

It was extremely windy up on the ridge ... I had an earache and a headache at the end of the hike

Perhaps doing a ridge hike while a typhoon was passing the island wasn't the best idea!

Still one of my favorite day hikes just outside of the city

October 7th-8th Hiking Weekend ...

Took thirteen Taipei Hikers on a rainy 10KM city hike ...  the only image I took during Saturday's hike

Led four Taipei Hikers on a 10KM hike in my backyard ... made it  home minutes before the downpour

Enjoying the little things during today's hike ... we also ran into a bamboo viper

Levi basking in the sun in her box ... it's been a very rainy October

Saturday September 23rd, 2017

Our leader, Francis (aka Pineapple)
Entering the Lujiaokeng Ecological Protected Area on Yangmingshan was exciting! We had to apply for permits a few weeks before the set hiking date. Upon arrival, the gate was locked but the permit approval letter had the code on it! The hike itself wasn't too difficult though finding the trailhead at the start was tricky. We didn't realize where it was until we came back down to the start of the trail.

The trail markers were stacked rocks like this for the entire trail up and were hard to spot at times

More trail markers along a very bouldery trail

The Fenglin Waterfall (楓林瀑布) on Yangmingshan: the second highest waterfall on YMS (25M)

Hualien Road Trip (September 16th-17th, 2017)

Day Lillies for miles at Sixty Stone Mountain (六十石山)


A quick stop at Shitiping (石梯坪) along the #11

The Hualien crew on our rental scooters

Hualien Road Trip (September 16th-17th, 2017)

Our route over the two days

Taking a break along the #11

Day Lillies at Sixty Stone Mountain (十六石山)


Saturday, September 9th, 2017

The Sandiaoling trail leading to the falls
With all the rain we'd been having, I thought a 10KM from Sandiaoling to Shifen waterfall would be a good idea. The trails were muddy but there was very little water at the falls.

I led nine Taipei Hikers (all women, which never happens) on the hike! We had a lot of laughs and it seemed that everyone enjoyed the hike!

One of the falls at Sandiaoling with very little water flowing

The #106 road to Shifen Waterfall with Wufenshan in the distance


The Shifen Waterfall is always flowing and it's now free of charge